1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sample dispensing apparatus, and more specifically to a sample dispensing apparatus for dispensing a sample with a disposable nozzle chip, carrying out the dispensed samples to a transfer line and transferring the samples.
2. Description of the Related Art
The sample dispensing apparatus is disclosed, for example, in JP-A-11-304814.
The sample dispensing apparatus is operated as follows: A sample is sucked into a disposable nozzle chip with the use of the nozzle chip for each sample and then discharged a small amount of the sample to the another container to automatically distribute a sample such as blood and urine from a container filled with the sample to another container by the amount required for analysis or examination.
A child sample container into which the sample is dispensed is automatically exchanged with a new one. However, when a jam occurs in the downstream from the dispensing device and a new child sample container cannot be carried in to be replaced with a current one, exchange of the child sample container cannot be performed, and the dispensing operation is temporally stopped.